Dainik Jagran continues to top readership survey

The top paper’s average issue readership (AIR), however, grew to 16,429,000 in the quarter from 16,412,000. Photo: Abhijit Bhatlekar

Updated: Mon, Oct 01 2012. 11 35 PM IST

Mumbai: Dainik Jagran continued to top the list in the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) for the second quarter that was released on Monday by the Media Research Users Council (MRUC) as several publications showed a loss in numbers, reflecting the climate of economic uncertainty.

The top paper’s average issue readership (AIR), however, grew to 16,429,000 in the quarter from 16,412,000.

“We did expect growth in readership as we have been working towards increasing circulation in a focused manner,” said Shailesh Gupta, editor and chief executive of Dainik Jagran.

The rest of the top five publications was unchanged from the last quarter. Dainik Jagran was followed by Dainik Bhaskar, Hindustan, Malayala Manorama (Malayalam) and Amar Ujala in that order, all in Hindi except for the fourth.

Hindustan, published by Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd (HMVL), witnessed a rise in AIR to 12,205,000 from 12,157,000. HMVL is a unit of HT Media Ltd, which publishes Mint and Hindustan Times. The other publications in the top five showed marginal declines.

English dailies also showed no change in ranking from last time, with the The Times of India followed by Hindustan Times, The Hindu, The Telegraph and Deccan Chronicle in that order. The readership of the top four English dailies declined. “In the English-language space, one does expect a further decline as consumption patterns are evolving… with readers choosing to access information through new media platforms of publications,” said Ashish Pherwani, partner at audit and consulting firm Ernst and Young.

Hindustan Times maintained its lead in Delhi and the National Capital Region.

The ranking of the country’s business dailies also remained the same—The Economic Times followed by Mint, Business Standard and The Hindu Business Line. All dropped readership. Mint continued to hold on to its No. 2 position, although AIR dropped to 235,000 from 246,000. The Economic Times had an AIR of 789,000, Business Standard 153,000 and The Hindu Business Line 130,000.

The regional language dailies also saw no change in ranking—the top five were Malayala Manorama (Malayalam), Lokmat (Marathi), Daily Thanthi (Tamil), Mathrubhumi (Malayalam) and Eenadu (Telugu).

“It is clear that the growth is in the Hindi and regional language space for publications,” said Pherwani of Ernst and Young. “However, the pricing of the product is of importance. India is still not ready for a high-subscription-driven scenario when it comes to newspapers/magazines.”